Players Era Updates, Day 3: Iowa State has the looks of a top-10 team, even without Tamin Lipsey on the floor

Matt Norlander has spent the past few days on Vegas Strip, bouncing back and forth between the two arenas hosting this year's Players Era Championship. He's been providing insider information throughout each day of the event. You can read his Monday notebook here and his recap from Tuesday here. 

LAS VEGAS — The team that has a claim to the biggest gripe over the format of the 2025 Players Era Championship is Iowa State.

The Cyclones went 2-0 against St. John's and Creighton, winning those games by a total of 19 points. It wasn't enough to finish in the top four, however, which meant ISU not only didn't make the championship or third-place game on Wednesday, it had to face Syracuse at 10 a.m. local for the first game of the day — with no bonus NIL money on the line.

T.J. Otzelberger's team looked like it was playing pissed off: Cyclones 95, Orange 64. There were 18 teams involved in this sophomore edition of the Players Era Championship. Iowa State will fly back to Ames as one of three with a 3-0 record in the event. The Cyclones are ranked No. 15 but should see their standing jump into the top 10 of the AP rankings next week.

This very much looks like a top-10 squad — all the more because ISU won two games without starting point guard Tamin Lipsey, who is dealing with a groin issue. Otzelberger said after Wednesday's win that they'll take a cautious approach before ISU's next game against Alcorn State a week from now, on Dec. 3, but it sure seems like Lipsey should be able to be back for the huge battle at No. 1 Purdue on Saturday, Dec. 6. 

Players Era format needs to be tweaked in order for event to reach its full potential in 2026 and beyond

Matt Norlander

To get a better sense of what Lipsey's dealing with, I asked Otzelberger if he would've played if, say, the injury he has right now was happening in the NCAA Tournament. 

As for not getting to play Tennessee or Kansas or Gonzaga or Michigan, Otzelberger was diplomatic about the matter in the postgame press conference. 

"How our team operates is just whatever is in front of us we are going ti tackle with the best intent and mindset, mentality, and that's where we'll keep our focus," he said. "Our guys did a great job of doing that today, and that's really all that matters."

After the presser, Otzelberger talked with a small group reporters and he echoed what he told me on Tuesday after beating Creighton: "Look, I don't care, 10 out of 10 times, we're not taking the shot against (Greg) McDermott. Anyone can rip me if they want. To me, the right thing to do is we don't take that that shot."

Big picture on Iowa State is the team is again going to be one of the best in the Big 12. Joshua Jefferson's playing like an All-American through the first three-plus weeks of the season. He averaged 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists over the past three days. I also love French freshman Killyan Toure's game. What a silky, savvy player. 

With Lipsey sidelined, Toure moved into a more prominent role, totaling 49 points on 15-of-24 shooting against Creighton and Syracuse. He also had six assists and three steals Wednesday. 

"I just played my game, took the opportunity to win, because that's the most important thing. The win matters more than what I'm doing on the court, the stats and all that stuff," Toure told CBS Sports. "We showed our identity on the court in these three games."

Iowa State's next big-stage opportunity is at Mackey Arena in 10 days. That's a tough ask, but given how good ISU has looked, it'll be one of the best matchups of the first week of December. 

This notebook will update later on Wednesday, as more results from Players Era come in.